Digital Payment Adoption Among Indian Consumers: An Empirical Analysis of Perceptions, Determinants, and Socioeconomic Impact

Within a span of a decade, the Indian payments system has undergone transformation from a cash-dominated one to one that is characterized by UPI and other forms of mobile wallets, cards, and biometric payment options. Although the overall numbers of transactions conducted using digital payment systems have been tracked by the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India, they do not shed light on the perception that consumers have towards these changes, what influences the consumers to use these payment systems and how does their willingness to pay digitally reflect in different sectors like retail and healthcare and whether the benefits of digital payments systems are enjoyed by all consumers equally. This research paper attempts to bridge the identified gap by deploying a structured survey questionnaire consisting of thirty-two items categorised under ten constructs, and administered among the users of digital payments platforms. Through the employment of reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, frequency, one-sample t-tests, multiple regression, and Pearson correlation, this study tests a total of eighteen hypotheses relating to adoption of technology, antecedents to adoption (Ease of Use, Convenience, Security, and Trust), sectoral impact in Retail/FMCG industry and Healthcare Industry, Financial Inclusion, Barriers to adoption, and Cash Displacement. All of the eighteenth hypotheses tested show statistical significance. However, two of the hypotheses require further discussion as they are subject to certain qualifications; perceived security, despite its positive perception rating, is not a predictor of adoption of technology once all other antecedents are controlled, and barriers to adoption show a positive correlation with the use of the technology as opposed to a negative one.